Supporting-frame for vehicle-covers.



No. 653.993.. Patented .Iuly l7, I900. G. C. FORRY. SUPPORTING FRAME FOR VEHICLE COVERS.

(Application filed Oct. 80, 1899.)

(No Model.)

famya I 2 NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE o. FORRY, or s'r. Louis, MISSOURI, ASSIGNORYOF ONE-HALF 'ro ROBERTM. ROGERS, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SUPPORTING-FRAME FOR VEHICLE-COVERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 653,993, dated July 17, 1900. Application filed October 30, 1899. Serial No, 735,233. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE O. FORRY, a citizen of the United States, residing at the cityof St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Supporting-Frames for Vehicle-Covers, of which the following isafull, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

The object of my invention is to produce a simple inexpensive frame which can be readily taken apart and folded while in storage or being transported for the support of a cover for vehicles, machinery, &c., and upon which frame the covers can be moved back and forth or up and down without causing the frame to sag or twist or do anything to interfere with the operation of the cover supported by it.

My invention consists in features of novelty hereinafter fully described and claimed.

Figure I is a view in perspective of one of my improved frames, the same supporting a cover. Fig. II is a plan view of one of the folding frames. Fig. III is a side elevation thereof. Fig. IV is a plan view of the front portion of one of the folding frames and i1lustrating the cord and ring connections made use of to draw the front curtains of the cover.

In the construction of my improved frame a pair of metallic resilient rods of suitable stiffness are bent into rectangular form to form the mating sections 1 and 1, the meeting ends of said sections 1 and 1 being provided with coinciding laterally-extending inner loops 2 and 2 through which intermediate loops pass bolts 3, and nuts 4, located upon the lower ends of said bolts, hold and lock the mating sections together. Formed in the center of the end portion of the section 1 is a loop 5, and-similar loops 6 are formed at the corners of said section 1 or the points where the end of said section joins with the sides. Formed at the center of the end portion of the section l is a loop 7, and the ends of this end portion are curved, as indicated by 8, to join with side' portions of said section, and formed at the points where said curved portions join with said sides are the loops 9.

Arranged in the center of the frame comprising the mating sections 1 and 1 is a ring 10, secured to which are the inner ends of tension cords or chains 11, the outer ends of which are secured to thepairs of intermediate 5 5 loops 2 and 2. Secured to the loops 5 and 6 are the outer ends of tension cords or chains 12, the inner ends of-which adjacent the ring 10 are secured to each other and to the ring 10. In a like manner tension cords or chains 13 are connected to the ring 10 and to the loops 7 and 9. These tensioncords or chains 11, 12, and 13 form flexible stays which coact to retain the mating sections of the frame in horizontal alinement and to prevent any buckling or twisting of said frame While in use. The natural resilience or spring of the entire frame resulting from the bending of the wire rods into the proper form keeps these stays taut, and they being independently secured to the ring 10 the excessive strain upon any one stay is equalized by the remaining stays. The frame so constructed is suspended in any suitable manner over the place usually occupied by the vehicle or the ma" chine which it is desired to cover and the cover 14 is positioned over said frame. The front of this cover or that portion occupying the posit-ion directly beneath the end of the section 1 is made into a pair of drawcurtains 15, the upper ends of which are provided with a plurality of rings 16, which slide upon the end portion of the section 1. The cord 17 for simultaneously operating these draw-curtains 15 passes through one of the operate adjacent this last-mentioned loop 9 and from thence through the loop 7, and finally through the first-mentioned loop 9.

The ends of the cords 17 are provided with suitable handles 18, which hang in convenient reach on the outside of the cover at one of the forward corners thereof. By this arrangement of the cord and rings it will be readily seen that the curtains are simultane- 10o ously withdrawn or closed, and when with drawn to their limit of movement the rings From thence said cord extends and go 16 will travel around the curved ends 8 of the end portion of the section 1, and thus carry the suspended curtains into alinement with the sides of the cover, and said curtain will not interfere with the vehicle or machine while the same is being positioned under or removed from beneath the cover. 7

WVhen it is desired to fold the frame in order that it may be stored or transported, it is only necessary to remove the nuts ifrom the bolts 3 and after removing said bolts 3 from the coinciding loops 2 and 2 to fold the sections of the frame together, and when in this 7 position said frame can be very easily handled and occupies a very small space.

A frame of my improved construction is light, strong, and durable, is applicable for sustaining the covers for vehicles, machinery, and the like, and said frames are provided with equalizing-stays which. retain the section of the frame in perfect horizontal alinement and prevent any twisting or buckling While said frames are in use. v

\Vhile I have shown and described the supporting-frame composed of mating sections, it is evident that it might be constructed of a single piece so formed as to be capable of receiving the equalizing-stays.

I claim as my invention 1. A frame of the character described com- 30 posed of spring-wire bent into rectangular shape and rigid throughout, cords connected to a ring centrally located Within said frame, said ring, said cords extending outwardly in diverging directions from said ring and connected at thelr outer ends to said frame, whereby the elasticity of the spring-wire of the frame causes a tension to be exerted upon said cords to hold the frame in alinement throughout its extent.

2. A resilient supporting-frame comprising a pair of metallic rods bent into rectangularform with eyes or loops at the corners and intermediate of the corners, and providing mating sections, the inner eyes or loops of the sections being overlapped, bolts extending through the inner eyes or loops and nuts whereby the sections are detachably secured together, and tension-cords joined to the eyes or loops and connected together at a central location within the frame; substantially as described.

GEORGE C. FORRY.

In presence of E. S. KNIGHT, M. P. SMITH. 

